


Leave What's Heavy Behind

by SilverhandsAss



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Blood and Injury, Cyberpunk 2077 Spoilers, Death, F/M, Gore, Injury, Minor Character Death, Spoilers, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:35:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28365519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverhandsAss/pseuds/SilverhandsAss
Summary: —SPOILERS FOR PROLOGUE AND END—Viktor loses a patient and it hits him harder than V realizes, knowing she needs to keep an eye on him.
Relationships: Female V/Viktor Vector, V & Viktor Vector, V/Viktor Vector
Comments: 7
Kudos: 74





	Leave What's Heavy Behind

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is set at the end of the game, it has mentions of major events of the game as well as my version of the ending. (More on that in the end notes).

There had definitely been an occasion or two when V would walk into Viktor's clinic and find him working on someone. Occasionally, it'd be such a tricky situation that he'd need to ask her to retrieve something for him from the other side of the room, or perhaps hold a tool or inhaler for him until he needed it. V did not mind helping him when he needed it, but she had never found him in a situation like this before.

The moment she stepped in, she could hear constant yelling and cries of pain. Pushing past the gate, she saw Viktor attempting to take care of a client while a third figure stood shaking in the corner, overcome by panic. A moment later, Misty emerged from around the corner, bringing Vik a tray of tools. She glanced up to see V, making Viktor look as well. He called out to her urgently to hold the man down.

The client of his was laying bare-chested on the chair, shifting and shaking while his arm bled out profusely. He was trying to reach out and grab Vik's arm while Vik took care of the issue, so V ran over to the chair immediately. Her hands tightened around the man's bicep, pushing him back down against the chair and holding him there.

Misty continued to get Viktor whatever he needed while he tried to contain the blood flow. Seeing the severity of the client's injury, it was clear that he was going to need a replacement soon enough. Replacing 'ganic limbs with chrome was not a foreign thing, but it was different when both client and Ripper are able to prepare for it beforehand. The man seemed to have lost a lot of blood by the time V had gotten to them, and he looked up at her with fear in his eyes.

There was blood smeared all through his bushy beard, all across his bald head and his chest. There were more cuts but none of them required so much attention. V could see it though. No matter how hard Viktor was working toward helping him, she could see it happening right before her eyes.

The client's movements slowed, his breathing calmed, among all the other little ways she could tell that he was dying. Minutes later, she found herself no longer needing to hold him down. Viktor had slammed an AirHypo into the man's chest, getting no feedback. His vitals had dropped, his heart and brain had given up.

The woman in the corner called and yelled for him to do something, to help him, but all Viktor could do was stand there and accept the fact that there was nothing more that could be done. He tried to explain, but the woman would not hear it. Misty attempted to calm her down and hold her, giving her any manner of consolation she could.

V looked over at Viktor as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, leaving behind yet another smear of red. He dipped his head low, took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. Not even her hand on his arm could comfort him in that moment.

—

Within the hours that followed, some more people had come by to take the man's body with them, escorting the woman out as well. One of the more level-headed men attempted to pay Viktor for his service and trouble, but he would not accept. Instead he offered to help in any way he could toward whatever service they wished to plan for their friend. They thanked him and left, leaving the three of them standing in the middle of a bloody clinic.

Misty and V helped clean up the mess, and while Viktor tried to do as much as he could—he needed to step outside for a little while. Neither of the ladies followed him, giving him a little bit of space to cope. Instead, they worked on making sure the clinic was cleaner and put back the way it was for his return.

After some time, he had come back, the blood on him drying and crusting in his clothes. He helped them finish up, then stepped aside to clean himself up, with which V assisted him.

Much like he had done for her so many times, she wiped all the blood and sweat off of him with a rag and some water, letting him rest and breathe. By the end of it, the two of them needed some air, so they went on up to the roof quietly. The seats had been tucked away for a while, only being set back up whenever anyone wanted to use them. V could not stand seeing them out in the open anymore—not after everything she went through on this very rooftop—so the other two tucked them away for her without making a fuss about it.

As though thinking the same thing, Vik walked past those stacked plastic chairs and walked around the corner to where the couch and seats were. She followed, the pair of them plopping down on couch together and sitting in silence for a moment. V had brought over some beer for the two of them, not wanting to give Viktor anything heavier just yet but knowing he needed _something_ to take the edge off.

It took them both a long while before they could say anything, and Viktor spent most of it looking ahead at the large, reversed sign and all the lights beyond. It was just past sunset, the sky still faintly lit but growing dimmer with each passing minute. Once it was starting to get a little too dark, V turned on the little lamp on the makeshift table beside them. She also turned on the radio, putting it on a calmer, quieter channel and setting the volume low—something to fill the silence.

After she leaned back against the couch, Vik took a sip of his beer and looked at her. "I never thanked you for helpin' me down there."

"I wasn't waiting for you to," she assured him and turned to her left, tucking a leg underneath herself and resting her elbow against the back of the couch to face him. "And you don't need to." Another silent pause fell between them. V focused on the rim of her bottle, her thumb circling it idly. "You doin' alright, Vik?"

"Never gets any easier," he admitted, taking another drink.

"You two know each other long?" she asked him.

"Long, not well. But... same look in their eyes either way when they're goin'," he sighed, fiddling with the bottle. "Same look in the eyes of those that come to get them."

"I'm sorry, Vik," she sighed, gingerly resting her hand on his shoulder. He glanced at it once, nodded somberly and looked back at the obscured city ahead.

"You know, I... I don't really get worried about them until they're on that chair, halfway to death. I don't really think much about it while they're out there, not like with you and Jackie."

Her heart skipped a beat.

"I remember the day he brought you in that first time, broken nose, _drenched_ in blood. But you were still smiling and ready to get out there and fight some more. In the months you both kept coming in, I saw the kind of camaraderie that I hadn't had since my boxing days, and it grew on me. I was already close with Jackie but you..." Viktor paused, a very small smile playing at his lips, gone as quick as it came.

"Used to be I would pat him on the shoulder and wish him luck on his gig, hoping he'd come back, but after a while I started to worry. Every time you two would go out there, that sad, awful part of my head'd wonder, 'what if today's the day?'"

"Vik..." she sighed.

"But then one of you would call or you'd burst through the door with those shit-eatin' grins, blood all over the both of you with a drink in each hand for a job well done. The next thing I know, Misty's telling me Jackie's gone and you're missing, and later on, some man drags you into my clinic with a bullet in your skull and after days of stabilizing you and weeks of wonderin' if you'll ever wake up, I have to be the one to tell you that you're dyin'." When he noticed she wasn't saying anything, he brought the bottle to his lips and muttered before a sip, "Like I said. Never gets easier."

"Vik, you've... never told me any of this," V frowned, her eyes burning as tears threatened to form.

"Didn't see the point..." he shrugged. "Not at the time, anyway."

"What changed?" she propped her head up with her hand.

"Everything that happened today..." Vik's breathing quickened slightly. "Fact that you'll be livin' a lot longer than we thought... Fact that those people are going home today feelin' alone and I... I was so close to being the same way."

Setting her bottle down without daring to look away from him, V leaned forward—still facing him—to put her left arm around his shoulders as far as she could reach. She then reached for his right hand with hers, pulling it from the bottle and holding it tightly.

"You know... we've never actually talked about what _you_ went through in all that bullshit. I can't... imagine it was easy. I was so preoccupied with the chip, I... I never brought it all up with you and eventually I figured you didn't wanna talk about it," V explained, giving his hand a gentle squeeze and moving herself a little closer. "You're not alone, and you're not going to lose me for as long as I can help it. In fact, Doc, I think you might be stuck with me."

He finally looked at her with a slight hint of amusement in his eyes. "That so?"

"Damn right," V assured. "Look, any gonk with a pair of eyes, 'ganic or not, can see that what happened today wears on you, but... I want you to talk to me about it anyway. You don't have to keep all this in like that again."

"You don't need to be listening to an old Ripper griping and ranting about his day," he argued.

"How about listening to a _friend_ in need? To someone that's given more of a shit about me than a lot of the people I know... Someone I care about a _lot_ ," she admitted.

Vik was silent for a few breaths, his eyes looking for something in hers that would tell him this was nothing more than a favor, something done out of pity or guilt. He could find nothing like that in the look she gave him though. _God_ , the look she gave him broke his heart. She actually fucking meant every word of it, didn't she? He looked down at their hands, running his thumb over the back in slow circles.

"You don't have to say anything else if you don't want to, but..." V held his hand tightly. "You don't have to carry all this heavy weight."

"Got a buncha heavyweight trophies downstairs that say otherwise." He countered, a dry smirk momentarily gracing his lips.

While she appreciated that he attempted to toss humor into the mix, she could not smile. V simply pulled her hand from his to join it with hers, having both arms now wrapped around him. She shifted so that she could lean into him comfortably, resting her head on his shoulders and just holding him there. She waited for some kind of response, her eyes darting across the roof as they sat in silence. Then, she felt it.

His chest rose and fell in long, hard sweeps, the kind of breathing one would get when they were struggling to control their emotions. Vik brought a hand to his face and she saw him bring his glasses down a moment so that he could rub his eyes. Then, the arm closest to her moved to find its way around her in return. Vik leaned his head against her for a minute, maybe two.

"I'll be alright, kid," he assured her, a hand rubbing at her back.

" _I'm_ the one that's supposed to be comforting _you_ ," she replied.

"You're doin' more than you know," he sighed, putting aside his bottle to wrap his other arm around her as well. "Look, can we just... just stay here a while?"

V wondered how many times Vik had been up here, had searched for a moment's peace after something like that. She wondered, if this was how he felt when it was just another client, what he must have gone through when both she and Jackie were gone. What he went through during those two weeks. He did not tell her, and maybe he never would, but she wanted to be there in case that ever changed.

So, she took a breath and looked him in the eye. "We'll stay here as long as you like."

**Author's Note:**

> (Explanation of my go-to ending. Spoilers ahead.)
> 
> My default go-to version of the ending of the game is that Johnny and V are separated and after some time, V has somehow found a way to survive with the chip (either with Vik's help or otherwise). I basically ignore the six-month thing because we deserve some happiness and fluff in our fics.
> 
> The fics may sometimes vary in scenario, but most of the time, this is what I go with if I write in the post-game timeline.


End file.
